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1 – 10 of 39Organizational members responded to four open‐ended questions about the organization’s culture at two times, six years apart. Results of a content analysis of the responses…
Abstract
Organizational members responded to four open‐ended questions about the organization’s culture at two times, six years apart. Results of a content analysis of the responses indicated that organizational values remained stable, despite extensive changes in the top leadership of the organization coupled with environmental forces that were pushing for change in the organization’s culture. The categories of responses that emerged from the survey were explored and discussed as depictions of the organization’s culture.
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Feruzan Irani Williams, Constance Campbell, William McCartney and Carl Gooding
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether self‐defeating behaviors are correlated with leader derailment, and to compare self‐defeating behaviors to the previously…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether self‐defeating behaviors are correlated with leader derailment, and to compare self‐defeating behaviors to the previously identified derailment theme “Problems with Interpersonal Relationships”.
Design/methodology/approach
Deans at AACSB International‐accredited business schools were surveyed about “Problems with Interpersonal Relationships” and self‐defeating behaviors (SDBs) that one to two of their derailed direct reports may have portrayed. SDBs were analyzed for their strength of association with derailment and compared to the derailment theme “Problems with Interpersonal Relationships.”
Findings
Results indicated that SDBs are multi‐dimensional and those behaviors that involve interaction with others were significantly associated with leader derailment. Further, the results suggest that SDBs were significantly more indicative of derailment than were “Problems with Interpersonal Relationships”.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample size may limit the ability to generalize the results of the study. Further, the lack of a comparison group of non‐derailed leaders does not rule out the possibility that they may also exhibit SDBs.
Practical implications
As the baby‐boomer generation leaves the workforce over the coming years, the demand for competent leadership will increase dramatically. Companies need to understand the underlying causes of derailment and take appropriate steps to minimize its impact.
Originality/value
Previous research on self‐defeating behaviors has focused on an individual's potential to derail. This study is unique in that it links SDBs to practicing leaders and relies on supervisor ratings (rather than self‐reports) of SDBs.
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William W. McCartney and Constance R. Campbell
This paper examines the relationship among leadership skills, management skills and individual success and failure in formal organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the relationship among leadership skills, management skills and individual success and failure in formal organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
A model is presented depicting the interactive relationship among the three variables and explaining why some high potential employees suffer derailment while other individuals with similar skills continue to develop and achieve organizational success.
Findings
The model indicates that there is not one combination of management and leadership skills related to individual success.
Practical implications
Developmental activities should be ongoing regardless of the individual's level in the organization.
Originality/value
This paper synthesizes several streams of research into a coherent model that can be used as a guide for leadership development activities.
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The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic intra‐individual perspective on leaders, which focuses on four components of the inner person of the leader; Being, Cognition…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic intra‐individual perspective on leaders, which focuses on four components of the inner person of the leader; Being, Cognition, Spirituality, and Emotion, and on the observable components of Behavior and Relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Existing leadership literature is appraised within the context of the model. Previously‐proposed interrelationships among the components are enumerated. The paper suggests implications of the model regarding research content and methodology as well as leader development.
Findings
The model implies that all components should be included in research and that interrelationships among components should be explored. Also implied is the use of methodological pluralism.
Practical implications
Leaders should attend to all components in the model in their self‐development efforts.
Originality/value
The paper takes an unusual approach to understanding leadership: an individual‐level holistic perspective.
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The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with orientation to library facilities and services, instruction in the use of information resources, and research and…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with orientation to library facilities and services, instruction in the use of information resources, and research and computer skills that are related to retrieving and using information. This is the fourteenth review to be published in Reference Services Review and lists items in English published in 1987. A few items are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.
It all began a very long time ago, sometime before 1876, that annus mirabilis of librarianship during which the American Library Association was founded, Library Journal debuted…
Abstract
It all began a very long time ago, sometime before 1876, that annus mirabilis of librarianship during which the American Library Association was founded, Library Journal debuted, and Samuel Green published in its pages the first article about reference librarianship. And it continues today. In April 1994, an unidentified library school student from the State University of New York at Buffalo queried the participants of the LIBREFL listserv, asking them, “Can you give a summary of the ‘hot’ library reference issues of the week? I'm working on a project for my Reference course, and would like to find out what is REALLY vital to refernce (sic) librarians out there today.” I was tempted to reply that all of that week's “hot” issues were identified in Green's 1876 article. In that article describing the phenomenon we today call reference service, Green touched on issues such as the librarian's obligation to provide information without injecting personal values, the inability of any librarian to know everything, the need sometimes to refer a patron to another information agency, SDI services, the value of proactive rather than passive service, the challenges of the reference interview, and, of course, what has come to be called the “information versus instruction debate.”
Kerry Scott, Catherine Campbell, Morten Skovdal, Claudius Madanhire, Constance Nyamukapa and Simon Gregson
The purpose of the paper is to provide recommendations for medium- and large-sized workplaces on how to support HIV-positive employees. Supporting HIV-positive workers is an issue…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to provide recommendations for medium- and large-sized workplaces on how to support HIV-positive employees. Supporting HIV-positive workers is an issue of social responsibility and an economic necessity for employers. HIV-positive workers can remain productive and healthy for many years if able to access appropriate HIV management support.
Design/methodology/approach
Recent (2000-2010) academic and grey literature on HIV workplace management was reviewed and a qualitative study of nine workers receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Zimbabwe was conducted by the authors. Results from both the literature review and qualitative study were used to develop recommendations.
Findings
Carefully considered organizational support is of primary importance in the following areas: workplace HIV policy, voluntary testing and counselling, HIV management, HIV treatment uptake and adherence, day-to-day assistance, peer education, nutrition support, opportunistic infection (OI) monitoring and support to temporary/contract workers. Confidentiality is a key element in achieving positive outcomes in all areas of organizational support for HIV-positive workers.
Practical implications
The paper provides a source of information and concrete advice for workplaces seeking to implement or augment HIV management and support services for their employees. The paper offers vital insight into workplace intervention strategies shown work best for workplaces and employees.
Originality/value
The paper fills a need for comprehensive documentation of strategies for effective HIV management at medium- and large-sized workplaces.
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Stéphanie Looser and Walter Wehrmeyer
This paper aims to investigate, using stakeholder map methodology, showing power, urgency, legitimacy and concerns of different actors, the current state of corporate social…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate, using stakeholder map methodology, showing power, urgency, legitimacy and concerns of different actors, the current state of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Switzerland. Previous research on CSR in Europe has made few attempts to identify stakeholders and their contribution to this topic.
Design/methodology/approach
To derive this map, publicly available documents were explored, augmented by 27 interviews with key stakeholders (consumers, media, government, trade unions, non-profit organisations [NPOs], banks, certifiers and consultants) and management of different companies (multinational enterprises [MNEs], small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and large national companies). Using MAXQDA, the quantified codes given for power, legitimacy and urgency were triangulated between self-reporting, external assessments and statements from publicly available documents and subsequently transferred into stakeholder priorities or, in other words, into positions in the map. Further, the codes given in the interviews for different CSR interests and the results from the document analysis were linked between stakeholders. The identified concerns and priorities were quantitatively analysed in regard to centrality and salience using VennMaker.
Findings
The paper identified SMEs, MNEs and cooperating NPOs as being the most significant stakeholders, in that order. CSR is, therefore, not driven primarily by regulators, market pressure or customers. Further network parameters substantiated the importance of SMEs while following an unconventionally informal and idiosyncratic CSR approach. Hence, insights into these ethics-driven, unformalised business models that pursue broader responsibility based on trust, traditional values, regional anchors and the willingness to “give something back” were formed. Examples of this strong CSR habit include democratic decisions and abolished hierarchies, handshake instead of formal contracts and transparency in all respects (e.g. performance indicators, salaries and bonuses).
Research limitations/implications
In total, 27 interviews as primary data that supplements publicly available documents are clearly only indicative.
Practical implications
The research found an innovative, vibrant and practical CSR model that is emerging for reasons other than conventional CSR agendas that are supposed to evolve. In fact, the stakeholder map and the CSR practices may point at a very different role businesses have adopted in Switzerland. Such models offer a useful, heuristic evaluation of the contribution of formal management systems (e.g. as could be found in MNEs) in comparison to the unformalised SME business conduct.
Originality/value
A rarely reported and astonishing feature of many of the very radical SME practices found in this study is that their link to commercial strategies was, in most cases, not seen. However, SMEs are neither the “poor relative” nor the abridged version of CSR, but are manifesting CSR as a Swiss set of values that fits the societal culture and the visionary goals of SME owners/managers and governs how a sustainably responsible company should behave. Hence, as a new stance and argument within CSR-related research, this paper concludes that “informal” does not mean “weak”. This paper covers a myriad of management fields, e.g. CSR as strategic tool in business ethics; stakeholder and network management; decision-making; and further theoretical frameworks, such as transaction cost and social capital theory. In other words, this research closes scientific gaps by at once applying quantitative as well as qualitative methods and by merging, for the first time, network methodology with CSR and stakeholder research.
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OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our…
Abstract
OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our readers before it begins. The official programme is not in the hands of members at the time we write, but the circumstances are such this year that delay has been inevitable. We have dwelt already on the good fortune we enjoy in going to the beautiful West‐Country Spa. At this time of year it is at its best, and, if the weather is more genial than this weather‐chequered year gives us reason to expect, the Conference should be memorable on that account alone. The Conference has always been the focus of library friendships, and this idea, now that the Association is so large, should be developed. To be a member is to be one of a freemasonry of librarians, pledged to help and forward the work of one another. It is not in the conference rooms alone, where we listen, not always completely awake, to papers not always eloquent or cleverly read, that we gain most, although no one would discount these; it is in the hotels and boarding houses and restaurants, over dinner tables and in the easy chairs of the lounges, that we draw out really useful business information. In short, shop is the subject‐matter of conference conversation, and only misanthropic curmudgeons think otherwise.
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.